You are a Magical Girl, and you're currently drinking yourself to death in your own shithole of an aparment.

Well, not death, but somewhere close to it. As close as two bottles of whisky and an entire bottle of pills will get you.

It has been exactly forty-eight hours since you saved your client from being raped by a heavily-armed, heavily-equipped group of otakus and having the whole sordid thing recorded and put on some paysite on the Internet. To their credit, they almost got through with it - thanks to the magical girl that had you trapped in some sort of living nightmare.

Thanks to the pink-haired demon in your own nightmares, you managed to wake up just in time. It wasn't your best job by your standards, but hey, at least the client got what she paid for.

Five kills. The Magical Girl permanently disabled, kept in stasis and locked in the safest room in the city. Her Soul Gem is with you - actually, it's in front of you, dunked in a glass of room-temperature whisky. Not the one you're currently drinking from, of course, that would be unhygienic. It's the one you pour out every time you go drinking, in remembrance of memories too painful to actually remember.

You hear a knock on the door, barely audible from the television currently blasting out old fuzzy reruns of Baseball Bat Boy. You glance blearily at the solitary clock that adorns the nigh-empty wall of your apartment. It's late afternoon, and you're not expecting visitors. Well, you are, but nothing important.

>>19647178Addendum, get our stuff together, we'll do the interrogation later if we get a chance. First we get our gun, hold it behind our back, see who it is through the door, and then decide whether to let them in or not.

You glance at the door, and then at the gaudy, blocky firearm sitting on your side table - and it's then that you murmur a curse underneath your breath as you lever yourself off of your very comfortable and very expensive-looking green chair. You're not one for furniture, but after the debacle at the Hotel Suite, you thought you'd take a little souvenir, something to remember that particular assignment by.

It took a while to get the huge chair into your inventory, but it was worth it. Really, really worth it.

You drain your glass of whisky, before placing it back onto the side table to pick up the gun Pinky had been kind enough to give you. You wipe your lips with the back of your other hand as you make your way toward the door, your bare feet making no noise on the unadorned, cold tile floor.

It's worth noting here that you've actually taken a shower right after that assignment. You didn't transform right after, of course, so you're not really decent right now. Just a sports bra and your usual panties.

You flip up the peephole lid and peer through the small lens.

There's no one there.

"Down here," a voice speaks unbidden in your mind.

You squint downwards, and see a familiar white mutant cat with startlingly-bright crimson eyes, fastidiously licking the back of its paw.

You lower the lid of the peephole, before undoing the three locks that kept your door secure enough from being broken into: two deadbolts, one at the top, one at the bottom, and a chain lock near the doorknob. You pull the door open just a little bit, enough to let the white furry creature pass through - and as he does so, you contemplate suddenly kicking the door shut, crushing your employer between door and door jamb.

It's a delightfully puerile thought, and one you don't go through as the Incubator finally manages to squeeze his way into your sparsely-decorated apartment.

If you count crates of stolen alcohol and explosives laying about as sparse, of course. Oh, and don't forget that strange heavy rifle with the chainsaw bayonet stashed near your umbrella stand.

"As usual, you never fail to impress upon me how little you care about your own comfort or that of your guest's, Matsuda." Kyuubey says, glancing at the television, where Baseball Bat Boy seems to be in a heated debate with Bicycle Helmet Girl about cooties. You shut the door behind him, engage the locks once more, and make a beeline back to your new chair, dropping down onto it with a whumpf. "I'd ask you why you didn't go directly to HQ for your debriefing, but I suppose I could guess why."

Was in the room with the principal when what at the time seemed to be her friend showed up.

Did pat down, clear of weapons, nothing seemed overly strange.

Sat by bed as they went to sleep. Strangeness occured, stuck in dreamlike state, her "friend" was with me, said that goons were raping principal.

Broke out of dream through sheer grit, killed rapists, one of whom was the head of security, before anything major happened, blew off the legs of the magical girl, whose name was revealed to be Midori. I'll get more information on the assailants after interrogation.

Comforted principal, called Mami, stayed there at principal's request for some time.

You give him the truncated version of events, like you always do in debriefings. The little bastard doesn't really need to do this, of course - knowing him and his connections, he probably had everything on videotape. This is just him checking to see if anything is amiss about you - or at least that's what you think.

You avoid mentioning Pinky. He doesn't need to know. No one needs to know.

"That sounds about right, yes." The Incubator says after you finish, once more licking the back of its paw and then wiping it all over its face in that way cats usually do. "As it turns out, the leader of Minase Iori's security detail was a member of the same group that raped Takatsuki Yayoi. The rest of the security detail were innocent, but they were gunned down in a protracted firefight."

The white mutant cat pauses for a bit to glance at the golden Desert Eagle you've placed back on your side table before continuing. "As... as for the Magical Girl, we've stabilized her for now in the Silent Room, but since her Soul Gem is in your custody, she's just a warm body for now. Should you choose to interrogate her, try and find out who she's working for. Someone like her may be in the same situation as you, which means there's another incubator lurking about."

You sip at your drink, glowering at the television. He likes hearing himself talk.

"...I think a stern lecture here about not falling so easily to magical traps is in order here, but since your client is strangely satisfied with your performance, I've decided to forgo that." It places a forepaw on the floor before it, forming a shadow on the bare white tile - and from that shadow, two grief seeds pop out, rolling on the floor momentarily before balancing themselves on their spines. "Your payment, as agreed upon. Your salary has been wired to your own account, and I do hope you remember how to access it."

It seems to hesitate at first, before letting out a sigh. "Try to do better next time. In any case, you have two assignments lined up. Since they're priority, pick one, and Kyoko will take the other."

We can find how Iori is doing through calling her ourself or talking to Mami. Letting this miserable fuck know that we still have vague hints of emotion will do us no good and simply reveal a lever for him to use, a weak point to capitalize on.

Kyuubey nods, seemingly impressed at how professionally you seem to be asking. No back talk, no sass, just going right to the point.

It clears its throat before continuing.

"Alright. The first one comes from one of our older customer. He's paid upfront for a hit on the Inagawa-kai Yakuza's overboss, Shinobu Tsukasa." Kyuubey pauses for a moment. "We don't usually take contracts out for Yakuza members, especially for high-ranking ones, but I'm considering it a part of our social service policy."

You smirk at this as you chase a couple of painkillers with a gulp of whisky, letting the bitter taste of the medication blossom on your tongue before drowning them in the heat of the alcohol.

"The second is a retirement one. Kirika Kure's...she's killed both of her principals in two assignments already. I believe it's time we end her relationship with our firm."

Retirement. Decommission. A pretty way of saying that the pressure's finally gotten to you, and you need to be dealt with cleanly, before you make the firm lose more revenue.

"One grief seed for the first assignment, and a bonus to your salary for the second. You can keep any salvage you get from Kirika, too. As always, you get your detailed dossier about the assignment you pick in a day or so."

We have already killed an incubator last time. There is a line between "I don't like you" and "I'm dangerous to you", and killing a QB twice in a row when he only want to brief and debrief you is dangerously close of being seen as a dangerous psychopath.

That's what we are. That's what QB think about us. But if we keep pushing him, it is possible he would want to do something about us.

I don't like QB, I distrust QB, but I don't want him actively trying to kill us.

Tilt our glass back and drain it. Killing Yakuza would just be a foregone conclusion, but Kyoko's the type who would love the fight for what it was. Meanwhile, we'll take down the girl and get the better deal for it. And not least because in some way, she reminds us of what we might end up as if we slide a little too far out... Putting an end to that ourselves might help remind us where the boundary is.

>>19647898He has hundreds of bodies, yes, but we already have killed one last time we've seen him. There is times when a joke get old, and if we keep killing QB systematically without reasons, it's possible we'll finish like Kirika Kure.

Extra bonus is always a good thing.And escort QB out of the room by the tail, through the window.

>>19647925I thought QB didn't give any fucks about his body. He's the practical type. He wont give 2 flying fucks if youre a psycho lesbo bitch with an extra arm, so long as you give him want he wants and does not reduce what he has.

Killing his near infinite bodies does neither. In fact, I remember that he is amused by the fact that we keep doing it despite its redundancy

"The second assignment? Very well. I'll have Sakura Kyoko take the first one. You'll get your dossier via secured courier by noon tomorrow." Kyuubey nods again, his crimson eyes staring up at you intently. "To be honest, I was expecting you to pick the Yakuza one, but then again, there's bad blood between you and Kure, isn't there?"

You drain your glass of its remaining amber liquid and refill it just as quickly. Bad blood wouldn't be the term you'd use to describe your association with Kirika Kure - it was closer, really, to all-out antagonistic. You hated each other, not even in that rival kind of way where you respected each other's professionalism grudgingly. You just didn't like her, she didn't like you, and more than once it almost came to both of you trying to kill each other. Kyuubey had always done the smart thing to never pair you up in a difficult assignment, because nothing would ever get done.

You knew she was sort of...crazy, but she was the best close-combat specialist in the firm. Not even Kyoko or Sayaka could ever hope to come close to Kure in a fair fight, and it usually never was.

You idly wonder, then, who would be sent to retire you when the day comes.

"Do you have any other questions, Matsuda? If not, I have other things to do. Places to go, people to see, and another Magical Girl to recruit - seeing as a slot will be opening up soon."

>>19648073Kirika is extremely dangerous in CQC, our Time Stop may not be perfect due to our shield being slightly broken and wonky and using it means seeing Pinky. In addition the girl can slow her enemies down which may make our time stop less effective.

She is purely melee focused even though we might be able to pull off a close range kill it is an unnecessary risk when we can put a .50 BMG round through her skull from half a mile away.

You sit up from your reclined position, turning towards Kyuubey. This new recruit...it can't possibly be someone you're familiar with, right? No one with a future deserves to be reduced to something like you.

You ask the question, trying very hard not to sound like you care.

"I've a few prospects, but nothing final as of the moment. There's one very potential candidate I'm interested in, however, as she's got quite the gift for it." The incubator tilts its head slightly to side. "Why the sudden curiosity? Either way, you'll know about who she is in the next all hands meeting anyway, right?"

Typical answer from the little creep. Vague as hell and laden with innocence, trying to make you feel stupid for even asking it even WHEN it should be asked.

"If there's nothing else, then I'll go ahead and leave you to your...activities. Whatever they are." The white-furred creature scampers across the room, hopping up onto a windowsill. "And for goodness' sake, Matsuda, try and clean up your apartment. It's supposed to be a living space, not an armory.

You make to stand up and grab him by the tail, frowning at that last comment - but unfortunately he's gone before you could even pull yourself away from your chair's comfy, comfy grasp. Just as well, making another kickball out of the little bastard probably wasn't worth getting up anyway.

Man, you really like this chair. This chair, it's the best. It really is.

You spend a moment of leaning back and closing your eyes to the sound of Baseball Bat Boy cracking a criminal's face open with the butt of his bat, before you reach out to take your cellphone from your side table, nearly knocking over the glass containing Midori's Soul Gem over. Flipping it open, you search your contacts list for a certain idol's number and call it.

It takes her three rings before she picks up. And when she does, her voice sounds a bit...breathy? As if she's nervous about something.

You're currently sauced at the moment, so you're in a bit of a better mood than before, and it kind of shows when you ask her how she's doing. It's a bit unprecedented, you asking about a principal after the assignment - much more you actually calling them up. Iori sounds a bit surprised and pleased, in any case.

"O-oh. I'm fine, Chiaki-san. I've...my producer has convinced me to postpone my tour for a few months. He says that it's for me to lay low for a while, since the media somehow caught wind of what happened, but I think it's really him just wanting to give me a break." She giggles, slightly. "A-anyway, Mami Tomoe-san is here escorting me to a safehouse I'll be staying in for the duration. She told me it's the--" hasty voices and giggling in the background, not Iori for sure, but someone you recognize by their voice. "--it's the safest place in the city at the moment."

Well. The giggling's a bit weird, but that's a good thing, right? And she's with Mami, so she's safe. The safehouse, though...you wonder where it is.

You ask as nonchalantly as you can.

"Huh? Where is it? Um...er..." More giggling. More voices. "M-Mami-san says you're really familiar with it, so you don't need to know. Anyway, it seems we're here...ah, alright, Mami-san, I'm going to knock."

You furrow your eyebrows, and make to ask again, when suddenly someone knocks at your door again. Three times, just like how Iori knocked on the door on her end three times.

>>19648405>have to constantly accompany her everywhere>talks to me incessantly on how ass-retarded her ex was>eat out, helped bro get a girl, helped solved their "friend problems", yadayadayadayadaI want my fucking free time back. This is almost not worth the trouble. Having someonet\ to talk to is a nice change though.

>>19648448Get dressed, hide anything that might put off an idol, open door.or Give no fucks, open door in undiesBoth are far too tempting.

>>19648448Tell her to hold on for just one moment, take few sheets, blankets and similar objects and throw them over the crates of weapons, clear off a few extra chairs around the table and open the door. We're in our underwear, but we don't give a fuck as it's our home and we're off the clock.

Go to the door, open it partway, check that it's them. Then open it fully and invite them inside.

>>19648525Also, assuming it actually -is- Iori at the door. Once we've opened it and seen her there, ask over the phone "So what are you wearing?" in as pervy a manner as possible, just to see her reaction.

If she asks why we're acting so different we can just say that we're not on the clock so professionalism gets thrown out the window. Then we stuff a cigarette in her mouth, light it, and pour her a glass of whisky.

>>19648775He's faustian, as in - his "deals" sound awesome but there is always some catch that he didn't mention since you didn't ask the right questions. Usually a catch that's gonna kill you. Or make you wish it had.

>>19648775Short answer: watch Madoka to find out.Long answer: he pesters young girls into making a contract. In exchange of a wish, you get to dress as a magical girl and fight witches, and you have to keep doing it, lest you become one.Witches are, in a few words, monsters born from your despair and inner mind. It's a fate worse than death.

>>19648847Bothering about how we look is out of characterWe turned up to the job looking like we had crawled out of a dumpster at a cosplay convention so answering the door while in our underwear while we are clean is a step up

You narrow your eyes at the door, then at the phone, before letting out a small sigh - even as a small smile curls the corners of your lips. This is exactly why you don't let coworkers know where you live, you tell yourself. You thought Mami would be an exception, but she did save you from an overdose the last time, so it was really more of a favor to yourself.

"Hold on. Someone's at the door." You say this to Iori in your usual deadpan manner.

Well, if they're playing it that way...

You place your glass back onto the side table and then grab the bottle of Kong Whisky you've been trying to kill for a while now by the neck. Rising from your ridiculously comfortable chair, you make your way towards the door - not bothering for a last minute clean up, and certainly not throwing something decent on. If this is Mami's ploy to get at you, then this is you returning fire.

You wedge your phone between ear and shoulder to free up the hand that undoes the locks and pulls the door a tiny crack.

Well, it's them all right. Both of them trying to keep straight faces. Mami in particular, although she's got the best poker face in the business.

May change soon enough, that.

You pull the door enough for them to see you. All of you.

All of your sports bra wearing, white panties styling, booze-swigging self. And you're still talking to Iori on the phone, who is coincidentally right in front of you.

Both girls' eyes widen at your appearance, and both of them redden at the same time. You get the most reaction out of Iori, however, while Mami only smiles sheepishly, knowing that she's outdone.

Iori's holding her phone in a death grip, like she's about to crush it.

You smile slightly at them, before ending the call and folding your phone close.

"Chiaki-chan, sorry for the short notice." Mami breaks the awkward silence with a smile and a stifled giggle. "I'm here with Minase-san to escort her to her safehouse. She'll be staying here for a month or so. Can we come in?"

Though honestly, we're going to be going out on an assignment tomorrow, this won't be exactly a safehouse.Unless Mami is also staying here. Which would make things convenient by having her cook for us.

You manage not to make that much of a fool out of yourself at your complete surprise at this development. Actually, you're playing it very cool, only raising an eyebrow as Mami steps over the threshold of your apartment, while Iori meekly bows her head, still red as a tomato. Of course, she's still staring, but not for lack of trying to avert her eyes.

"Oh, don't make that face, Chiaki-chan. It's only going to be a month or so. Two months, at the most. She needs somewhere that's secure and away from the media, so we chose your apartment."

You close the door behind them and slap the locks on. You take a swig from your bottle of Kong, before asking Mami why the hell didn't they just put her in the HQ living quarters instead?

"She can't very well stay there for a month, Chiaki-chan. We all have homes of our own, and do you think she'll be able to sleep with the racket some of us make at night? Be serious, here, please." Mami seems to have found a can of Febreze in your kitchen and spraying it into the apartment - trying to get the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke, no doubt. Meanwhile Iori seems to be busy...standing around, uncertain of what to do. You point her towards the chair you stole, and she obediently sits there, as if scared to upset you.

You turn to Mami again, bringing up the fact that no one will be around to protect her when you're away on assignments.

"That's easy. Whenever you're on duty, one of us back at the HQ will come over and keep her company. Us being Sayaka, Kyoko and yours truly." Mami smiles, before walking over and pulling up the garter of your panties just a bit, before snapping it back painfully. "And we'll do it with most of our clothes on, we promise."

[]What are you implying, flaxen-haired wench?[]No sir, I don't like it.[]Well, what does Iori think about it?

>>19649212This. At the very least we should warn Iori to assume any weapon she finds to be loaded, and to always check before assuming otherwise. At the very least the girl needs to learn some basic gun safety. No need for her to accidentally shoot herself...or us.

No good. Just like Mami to know all the answers to the questions you've even yet to ask. You're so outclassed here it's not even fair, and you only shake your head and take another swig from the bottle of Kong in your hand.

After a moment, you grumble something at Mami's direction, and she nods, seemingly pleased with herself.

"Is that all you want, Chiaki-chan? Well, certainly! I'll make you a batch right now, and just because you're being such a good sport about this, I'll even stock your kitchen for you, so you don't have to order out every night!"

You didn't...ask that, but okay. You open your mouth to reiterate your original sentence, but Mami suddenly comes up close, talking in low, conspiratorial tones.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, Chiaki-chan, but she came up with the idea herself. Actually, she insisted that we make her stay at your place, and put it across as our idea."

She quickly steps back and smiles. "And I'm not implying anything that needs to be implied right now." She clears her throat, before speaking in a louder voice. "O-oh! I'll work on those pancakes right away, Chiaki-sama, please don't glare at me so much!"

Giggling, she scurries off towards the kitchen, glancing back at you and Iori every so often. A moment, and you hear the familiar hum of the refrigerator being switched on. You don't really use it much, so you keep it deactivated.

Now it's just you and Iori in the...living room. Alone, for the most part. And she's looking at you expectantly.

Awkward.

[]Might as well lay some ground rules. Pills, guns, the whole thing.[]Ask her if she's really comfortable about staying with you. You're not exactly the sort of person anyone else would like to live with.

>>19649364I am leaning towards preOur time abilities seem to copy our consciousness to another us instead of moving the current us into another time stream so this is one of the many failed times where Madoka died yet the others survived

Quite possibly Madoka died first in this timeline and is partly why we became a magical girl

>>19649405Both.First>[]Ask her if she's really comfortable about staying with you. You're not exactly the sort of person anyone else would like to live with.Then>[]Might as well lay some ground rules. Pills, guns, the whole thing.

>>19649405>[X]Might as well lay some ground rules. Pills, guns, the whole thing.>[X]Ask her if she's really comfortable about staying with you. You're not exactly the sort of person anyone else would like to live with.

>>19649405Both. Start with asking if she's comfortable with the arrangements, etc.

No need to be a dick about it, but be firm when telling her about gun safety and peels. Try to set aside a day when you can teach her about fire arms so she isn't afraid of them, respects what they can do, and she defend herself if we're not around.

The awkwardness lasts for a good while before you move towards the chair you fell asleep in and almost got the idol now sitting on it raped. You place the now nearly-empty bottle back onto the side table, before turning around and sitting on the chair's soft armrest. Your back to Iori's side.

You let out a small sigh, before ask her the one question that needed to be asked before anything else.

She answers almost too quickly.

"Y-yes. Yes, I'm alright with living here with you, Chiaki-san. It's...I know you probably think of me as some sort of primadonna that's used to luxury, b-but I'm not, I promise." She smiles at you as you turn towards her. "I'll keep, and I will do my best not to be a burden."

You're silent for a moment, before you nod and stand up from the armrest, turning fully to face her. It's then that you give her a few simple rules about your apartment - how not to handle the guns until you've taught her to, how to treat every gun she sees as loaded and dangerous (even if it's apparent to the contrary) and that to never do anything with your pills or your alcohol. You tell her that you'll be teaching her how to handle basic firearms one day, when you're free.

She takes all this surprisingly well, eagerly nodding, hanging on to your every word. You notice this and you can't help but redden.

"I understand completely, Chiaki-san." Iori nods after you finish, smiling. 'I hope we get along well. Please take care of me."

Great. Really great.

Well, at least Mami seems to be doing some good in your unused kitchen. You're already smelling some very nice pancakes being made, even if it's nearing evening.

You're tempted to ask her if she has an ulterior motive to all this. You know, besides already seeing you in your underwear.

>>19649680Now that the shock value has worn off, perhaps putting some clothes on would be wise. Also, see if we can subtly ask Mami if Iori is one of the magical girl candidates that the Incubator was talking about.

>>19649680Warn her about QB. Sure, it might seem...'glamorous' isn't the word I'd use, but tempting, to enter into a contract with QB.But it's not. It's only really one step short of suicide. Try to get this across to her gently. We're a Magical Girl, so that she, and other girls like her, don't have to be.

>>19649889It's noir. Shit ain't gonna work out the way we want it to. We should warn Iori, but I imagine QB will keep pressing for a contract, and by god something will happen that forces her into one.

>>19649946As worded, it's just so vague. The easiest way for the wish to come true is that Chiaki/Homura get's personality-wiped, and becomes a sociopathic killer that enjoys her job, just like Kirika. And then, Mami and Iori will need to retire her.

You see her pale slightly at this question, even though you've tried your best to say it in a casual tone. You don't stick around to see why, having moved to the small dresser at the corner of the apartment, where you keep a scant few clothes (and a good amount of clean underwear). after a moment, you pull on a white shirt and black spats. That'll do for now.

She seems to have her answer prepared as you walk back to her, straightening your clothes. "I...Mami-san and I helped me look into where the real Yayoi is. As it turns out, she never really recovered. She...killed herself a few weeks after that incident, but it was covered up. I should've known, because when Yayoi started calling me, she seemed to be really different. I thought it was just something related to what happened to her, but now I realize that I'd been talking and comforting and encouraging someone who never needed it in the first place." Iori smiles sadly at you. "I'm here, Chiaki-san, because you're the only person I know, here. Yayoi was the only one I knew in this city. With her gone, it's...it's just you. I'm sorry."

She's slightly tearful at this, but she gamely wipes them away from the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand. After a moment, she giggles, even if it sounds forced.

>>19650120"It's alright. I guess you could have picked someone that's a bit more social." move your head towards kitchen / Mami "But hey, you have to play with the cards you got. Say, do you Ca... um.. did you ever play poker?"

She watches you refill the empty glass, as if enraptured by the dark amber liquid.

"Do...do you really need to drink that much, Chiaki-san...?"

You pick up the glass, drain it, and say yes. Passing her the remote, you tell her to surf the channels a bit to pass the time - you've got something to ask Mami.

You step into the kitchen, where an apron-wearing blonde is humming a pleasant tune while fixing you your pancakes. You're like a child, really.

You stop and stare at the skirt-clad bottom swaying to the tune's beat, distracting you more than the scent of fluffy pancakes.

You shake your head, and ask quietly about Kyuubey and the replacement about to take Kirika's place.

"...I'm not sure if it's Minase-san or not," Mami says after a moment. "She's not anything like us, is she? She's got a future. Plus, she's still at the peak of her career. People will notice when she's gone." She shakes her head, drills bobbing softly from side to side. "We're nobodies. People are already if we die, so long as we take out as many monsters of them as we do it."

Well. That's a relief. Of sorts.

"Don't worry too much about it, Matsuda-san. Kyuubey means well, even if his methods are a bit suspect at times." She piles on two freshly-made pancakes onto your plate, which already has a few pancakes drowning in syrup already. "Here. Share with her if you want. The sugar should perk you both up."

>>19650169>"The sugar should perk you both up."Smile and utter "it sure worked for you."

Anyway - Pancakes!!! It's pretty much the best thing you can have in this world that doesn't somehow harm others or your own body... stuff one in your mouth right away, go back o Iori, offer her some.Chewing is good enough excuse for not talking and you still need some time to think and sort out all the news.

You know, guys, I was thinking.. It's not Iori that QB is trying to recruit. I mean.. think about it. What would ruin our entire existence even more than Iori going Puella Magica? What would be so fucking horrible that it would make Chiaki "Murderface" Matsuda regurgitate her beloved pancakes on the floor out of sheer misery?

You immediately take a fork from the paltry amount of plastic utensils you've collected from the various food deliveries you've paid for, ad immediately stab it into the top pancake, cramming the syrup-soaked goodness into your mouth. It's still hot, but you don't care. For a mouth used to tasting whisky and painkillers, Mami's soft, feather-light pancakes tasted like food literally from the gods.

So good, it's almost illegal.

Your mouth still full, you mumble thanks, give her a small pat on the bottom, before walking out with the plate and another fork. You sit back down on the armrest, and unable to talk, you push the plate towards Iori - who blinks, before smiling and taking you up on your offer. She discovers the miracle that is food made by Mami with gusto, and you let her. The blonde's still making a batch, anyway.

You glance at the TV, which Iori had flipped to the news. No mention yet of what happened to the Hotel, but there has been a spate of brutal killings of powerful politicians. You know Kirika must be involved somehow - only she could transform a murder scene into a charnel house.

You've got an idol living with you, now. And you're basically being paid to kill a colleague. A hated colleague, sure, but still...

You swallow, and pat Iori's shoulder. She blinks up at you, innocently.

You tell her, in no uncertain terms, not to listen or talk to any white cats with crimson eyes. Or cats that talk. Cats don't really talk, not when you're sober.

She nearly chokes as she giggles at this, asking you if you're trying to make her laugh.

You tell her no, and make her promise.

"Y-yes, Chiaki-san. I promise. No mutant cats telling me what to do. Really."

>>19650397>What would be so fucking horrible that it would make Chiaki "Murderface" Matsuda regurgitate her beloved pancakes on the floor out of sheer misery?Nothing. The only thing that could has already happened. It's one of reasons why Chiaki clings to the bottle so much these days. Maybe even the main reason.

In either case, because of the way girls like she and ourselves work, we need to make sure we don't just graze or severely injure her, because anything like that can be repaired with magic. We need to make sure her Soul Gem is dusted before we can be sure the job is done. Plus, shaking her corpse down for any Grief Seeds wouldn't be a bad idea.

That's a good plan. We've got some nice, innocent girl staying at our place, so we should probably be on our best behavior. So let's work out those dark impulses on someone who both deserves it, and has something to offer. After a few hours of brutalizing her, we ought to be able to keep cheerful for a few days. After that, we've got work to keep us 'normal'.

I take it QB is super omnipotent, yes? If not...perhaps instead of actually killing Kirika we try to set aside our differences and focus on our mutual hatred of Kyubey. I mean, is there a possibility QB is trying to get rid of those who would be a problem to it's clearly evil plan that we don't know about yet?

Shit people, we aren't being paranoid enough and it almost got Iori raped last time.

His actual power is never really explored. It's more that there's no real way to harm him because if he dies, he simply reappears in another body. Save for an exception that might not even be present in the MG Noir universe, magical girls don't really pose a threat to him personally by any indication.

>>19650673If we go by classic "faust's devil" lore, one way to "overcome" him might be to form a waterproof contract. But there are a few catches:You only get one shot, and if you mess it up, you are trapped in his game 'til kingdom comes.We don't really know what all the rules and options are here.Chiaki can't do that (her contract is already running).

>>19651169>>19651256>>19650892Wouldn't engaging Kiriko from beyond her visual range by using a Barret .50 sniper rifle be better?Sure, we can still use claymores to trap the fuck out of wherever she's going, but wouldn't the sniper rifle be enough?